Device for holding cords, &amp;c.



PATENTEIID JUNE 6, 1905.

J. G. MORE-ELL.

DEVICE FORIHOLDING GORDS, 8w.

AIILIOATION FILED DEC). 6, 1902.

1 UNITED STATES- iatezited tune c, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES G. MORRELL, OF HUDSON, MASSACHUSETTS.

DEVICE FOR HOLDING coRD's, ac.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 791,485, dated June 6,1905.

Application filed December 6, 1902. Serial No. 134,095-

To all whom it may concern: h

Be it known that I, J AMns G. MORRELL, a'

, citizen of the United States, and a resident of character referred towhich will automatically clamp and hold the cord or rope whenever thelatter is wholly released and left free to move, thereby preventing thepossibility of the loss of control of such cord or rope by the operator.

My invention is illustrated by the accompanying drawings as embodied ina curtaincord holder.

Figure 1 is a top plan view of the preferred form of the device, andFig. 2 is a front elevation thereof.

In the drawings, 2 indicates a frame, which may be made of cast metaland is provided with any suitable means, such as a threaded shank 3, forsecuring it in the desired position. This frame has a substantially flatbottom and upright sides, in which sides is journaled a tapering rollerft, having its axis parallel with said bottom. Said roller is providedon its periphery with one or more spiral grooves 5, preferably ofsufficient length to make two or three turns around the roller, and islocated at such a distance from the bottom of the frame that the spacebetween it and said bottom at the larger end of the roller will be lessthan the diameter of the cord with which the device is to be used, whilethe space beneath the roller at its smaller end will be greater thansaid diameter. At the rear of the frame as viewed in Fig. 2 I usuallyprovide a guide, which in the device illustrated consists of a hole oreye 6, formed in the rear Wall of the frame near the bottom thereof andopposite the larger end of the roller 4, and at the front of the frameis located another guide consisting of a transversely-extending web 7,having its top edge slanting downward from that side of the frame whichis adjacent to the smaller end of the roller and terminating at thebottom I of the frame, preferably at a little distance from the oppositeside wall thereof.

As thus constructed, if a cord 8 (shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1) bepassed through the eye 6 and between the roller 4 and the bottom of theframe 2 and drawn forward or out of the front'side of the frame it willtend to rotate the roller 4 by frictional engagement therewith and alsoto run in the spiral groove 5, which is so cut as to carry the cord tothe right or in the direction in which the distance between said rollerand the bottom of the frame 2 increases. Hence the cord when drawn inthe direction referred to will instantly'move into a space wide enoughto permit it to run freely. The cord will also run freely in theopposite direction, provided its lower or front end 9 be purposely madeto run over the highest part of the web 7 in the position shown in Fig.1, since when kept in this position it will be prevented from moving farenough toward the larger end of the roller 4 to be caught between it andthe bottom of the frame. If, however, while the cord is moving in thisdirection it be not purposely kept in the position shown in Fig. 1, thenit will instantly slide down the inclined edge of the web 7 into aposition in which it will be caught by the groove 5 and carried towardthe wider end of the roller as the latter rotates until said cord bindsbetween said roller and the bottom of the frame and is clamped andfirmly held thereby. This operation is also facilitated by the locationof the eye 6, which tends to draw the cord toward the larger end of theroller. Thus it will be seen that in case the cord while under ten.-sion slips out of the hand of the operator it will immediately be caughtand held automatically before more than a very short portion of itslength has passed through the devlce.

The guide 6 may sometimes be unnecessary, as in case the device is to belocated in an elevated positionsuch as the top of a windowcasing, forexample-in which case the cord will be passed around the roller and thelatter will act as a pulley. HenceI do not consider said guide 6 to forman essential element of my invention, although I usually prefer toemploy it. When employed, this guide is so located as to cause the cordto leave the roller in the desired direction and need not necessarily beformed in the frame itself, but may be a separate part, as will beevident.

I am aware that curtain-cord holders have been made prior to myinvention in which tapering rolls provided with spiral grooves have beenemployed; but so far as I am aware none of these holders have beenprovided with any means operating in the manner in which my guide?operates, but have always been so constructed that it was possible for acord if released and started in a certain position to run through thedevice Without being caught and held thereby, and as such release oftenoccurred accidentally these prior devices have been objectionable onaccount of their liability to lose the control of the cord.

My invention resides in the combination, with a grooved tapering rolleror its equivalent, of certain guiding means rather than in the rolleritself and is not limited to curtaincord holders, but is adapted for usewherever an appliance adapted to automatically engage and clamp a cordor rope is desired.

I claim as my inventionl. A device for holding cords and the like,comprising a frame provided with end portions and with an intermediateclamping-surface, a roller journaled in said end portions and taperingfrom one end to the other, said roller being provided with a spiralgroove, and a guide distinct from said clamping-surface and extending atright angles thereto at a distance therefrom and from the roller, saidguide having its guiding-surface inclined from one side of the frametoward said clampingsurface near the larger end of the roller,substantially as described.

2. Adevice for holding cords and the like, comprising a frame providedwith end portions and with an intermediate clamping-surface, a rollerjournaled in said end portions and tapering from one end to the other,said roller being provided with a spiral groove, a guide distinctfromsaid clamping-surface and extending at right angles thereto at adistance therefrom, said guide having its guiding-surface inclined fromone side of the frame toward said clamping-surface near the larger endof the roller, and a guiding-eye located on the opposite side of theroller from said inclined guide and opposite the lower portion of thelatter, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name this 28th day ofN ovenlbcr, 1902.

J. G. MORRELL.

Witnesses:

JOSEPH T. BRENNAN, E. D. CHADWIGK.

